A. Technical Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a teat unit or nipple for feeding bottles, and more particularly to a teat which is manually adjustable to change its shape.
B. Description of Related Art
A baby ideally drinks from its mother's breast. However, there are various reasons why this is not always possible. For many years now, attempts have therefore been made to develop teats for feeding bottles that allow the baby to feed as naturally as possible. Mothers' breasts, however, do not have a uniform shape, nor are all babies willing to accept and drink from the same shape of teat. It is for this reason that the prior art comprises a large number of differently shaped teats, some of them of relatively complicated design.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,683,246, for example, discloses a teat with reinforcing ribs on its inner face in order to avoid closure of the suction opening during drinking. The lower area of the main body is stretched radially in order to push the teat over a bottle opening.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,673,806 discloses a teat with a mouthpiece in which a helical spring is arranged. This helical spring permits an axial stretching of the mouthpiece during feeding and increases the stiffness of the mouthpiece, such that the latter can be pressed together only slightly in the radial direction. This teat is intended to allow the baby to drink from the feeding bottle in a manner that imitates feeding at the mother's breast.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,161,710 discloses a training teat intended to teach the baby how to feed correctly at the mother's breast. The teat is composed of two membranes arranged one over the other, and the baby has to pull the outer membrane lengthwise in order to allow sufficient liquid to flow through the teat opening.
WO 2006/040542 also describes a teat with outer and inner flexible walls that are pulled lengthwise during feeding. Here too, the aim is to imitate the natural feeding action at the mother's breast.
WO 2007/137440 relates to a teat with a receiving head made of a dimensionally stable material and with a suction body made of a rubber-elastic material. The receiving head is provided with an admission channel, leading to the interior of the bottle, and with several channels leading from the admission channel to the outer surface of the receiving head. In an initial position, the suction body bears elastically and sealingly on the outer surface of the receiving head. During feeding, milk ducts are freed through which the milk is able to flow to the drinking opening.
The large number of different teats means that the parents of a baby who is unwilling to drink purchase various teats and try them out one after another on their baby. Not only is this expensive, it can also have the effect that, after a number of failed attempts, the baby will struggle even more against drinking from a feeding bottle.